The present invention relates to a system for moving electrical equipment and more particularly to a system for moving and operating tele-operated electrical equipment for inspecting the inside of a nuclear reactor containment vessel which can not be easily accessed.
FIG. 1 illustrates one example of a conventional system for moving a tele-operated car having electrical equipment mounted therein for monitoring various components disposed within the primary containment vessel of a nuclear reactor. The system is described in a review "THERMAL AND ATOMIC POWER GENERATION, Vol. 34, No. 3, pages 51 to 53, March, 1983, edited by Thermal and Atomic Power Generation Engineering Association.
The system comprises a tele-operated car 1 for carrying electric instruments or equipment (not shown) such as a camera and a thermometer which are mounted therein, a trolley chain 2, which supports the car 1, driven by a drive mechanism 3 for moving the car 1, a feed cable 4 for supplying the electrical equipment with electric power, one end of which is connected to the car 1 and the other of which is wound around a cable reel 5 which is rotated clockwise or counterclockwise in accordance with the direction of movement of the car 1 to extend or rewind the cable 4, an electric power source 6 connected both to the drive mechanism 3 and the cable reel 5 to supply electric power thereto as well as to the electric equipment mounted in the car 1 through the cable 4 and the cable reel 5.
As has been described above, the conventional system for moving the car 1 uses the feed cable 4 supported by the trolley chain 2 for supplying the electric power to the electric equipment mounted in the car 1. Accordingly, it is indispensable that the system is provided with the cable reel 5 for extending and rewinding the cable 4. Besides, the system has the problems that, when the tele-operated car 1 is moved over a long distance, the cable 4 must also be long which causes the movement of the car 1 to become unstable as well as making it difficult to travel especially around a given portion of the trolley chain 2.